A British family moved to Portugal so they can put their three kids through private school – and said it saves them £26,000 on yearly fees compared to the UK.
Abbie Shone, 36, and her Danish husband Michael, 38, moved from Buckhurst Hill, Essex to Algarve, Portugal with their three boys – a 10-year-old and six-year-old twins.
They moved for a more outdoorsy, slow lifestyle – as well as to be able to send their children to private school in Portugal ‘for less than half the price’.
It costs them just €25,000 (£21,600) for the school year for all three children.
In the UK it would have cost around £48,000 a year – if they had continued to put all their children through the private school their eldest son attended.
They said they would only have been able to afford it ‘at a real stretch’ and by forgoing family holidays.
Abbie, Michael and their children exchanged life in the UK for Portugal
The pair decided to make the swap in order to send their children to private schools for less
Abbie, a virtual assistant now living near Vilamoura, said: ‘We had visited Lisbon and the Algarve a number of times on holiday before we moved and loved it.
‘The pandemic gave us the confidence to work remotely and the twins hadn’t started school yet so the move wouldn’t impact their lives.
‘We pay around €25,000 (£21,600) for the year. In the UK the private school for all three of my children per year would have been around £48,000.
‘The main thing that made us want to move was the weather I think.
‘The final push really was my son really liked the school and it was a big driver for us for him to be comfortable where we were going.
‘The lifestyle in general fitted our lives and where we wanted to be. We wanted to keep our children as children longer.
‘Children in the UK are growing up super quick and spend a lot of time using quick tech like an iPad, because they’re inside a lot. It becomes the third parent.
‘Where as in Portugal they treat the children as children for a lot longer and we liked that.’
In the UK, Abbie previously worked as head of operations for a retail company and was in charge of more than 200 people, often working 50-hour weeks.
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Abbie and her husband Michael are now raising their three boys in the Algarve, which has much better weather and a lifestyle they prefer
She admits she ‘loved it but that was before kids’ and after moving into her job as a remote virtual assistant she can ‘actually switch off’.
Now she can work as flexibly as she likes with husband Michael working full-time as a software developer.
They ditched their three-bed home in Essex and bought a spacious four-bed Portuguese villa.
Abbie said: ‘In the UK, we had a small concrete garden. We sold our house for around £600,000 and bought our house for €700,000 (£609,241) with a swimming pool, lots of land and a working fireplace.’
As their house has its own bore hole and water supply, the family have no water bills and the electricity bill comes to about €180 to €200 a month (£155 – £172).
Abbie’s three children all now attend private school.
They had been spending £16,000 a year for their eldest son to go to private primary school for two years before the move.
Abbie and Michael now pay €2,500 (£2,175) a month for all three children across 10 months of the year.
Abbie said: ‘I was nervous about education. I expected it to be better but over here teachers in Portugal are on rotation every four years from anywhere across Portugal.
‘In public school settings, there are frequent strikes and we aren’t given any warning beforehand which is difficult when you are working full-time and you have to pick up your kids at lunchtime.
‘It was a big factor for us as to why we put the kids in private school.
‘We both work and it’s important to have that predictability in the week with the children.
‘The school day is the same across the term but the timings are really random when compared with the UK, sometimes you are in 8.30am until 1pm and then there is nothing for the rest of the day.
Their new lifestyle allows them more freedom, flexibility and financial liberty
Abbie also says that her sons are all fluent in Portuguese now
‘There are benefits – they focus quite heavily on maths and science in Portugal specifically for most of their primary school years.
‘It’s a good curriculum but it’s taught in a specific way, there’s no leniency.’
Abbie’s eldest learns the British curriculum but her twins will be enrolled in the ‘national side’ as they attended Portuguese nursery.
The boys are all fluent in Portuguese.
They say there is a strong expat community – and the family have friends from the USA, Brazil and South Africa.
She said: ‘At the weekend, we meet up with friends for a barbecue and go around to each other’s houses or play volleyball.
‘After school, we take the kids to the beach and have a pizza, stay out until 9pm.
‘We can go for long walks together, jump in the pool and the kids can jump around the land and climb trees. The Algarve is such a good place to raise young children.’
The family, who share their journey on TikTok on the account @abbiekatie35, are able to enjoy the best of the Portuguese cuisine.
Abbie said: ‘Over here, it’s all fresh food, there are loads of fruit and fish markets. You are not going to beat it in terms of the quality.
‘My food shop is around €250 (£216) a week and to eat out at a restaurant, it averages between €80 to €100 (£70 – £86) for the five of us.
Monthly costs: UK Mortgage: £2,500Electricity bill: £125Water: £40Council tax: £296Average weekly food shop: £250 a week, £1,000 a monthEating out: £150 to £200 per mealSchool fees: £48,000 for school year (for three kids) Monthly costs: Portugal
Mortgage: €1,800 (£1,566)Electricity bill: €180 to €200 a month (£155 – £172)Water: €0Council tax: €125 every six months (£108)Average weekly food shop: €250 (£216)Eating out: €80 to €100 per meal (£70 – £86)School fees: €25,000 (£21,600) for school year (for three kids)
‘In the UK we were spending around £1,000 per month on food shops.
‘Eating out for the five of us can cost anything from £150 to £200 depending on where we go.
‘When we lived in the UK our twins were smaller so didn’t eat as much as they do now. They used to share one meal; now they have their own as they are getting bigger.’
Abbie says while it is fun to come back and visit friends and family, she does not see their family ever moving back to the UK.
She said: ‘Maybe when the kids get older we will move closer to Lisbon, Porto or maybe Copenhagen. We will see what the future holds.’
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